Pet books we like...

Wednesday, April 26, 2006

Learning to like...

Over the past year or so, we have slowly been adding in red bell peppers when recipes call for them. Before, we would either leave them out or skip the recipe as we have had bell peppers before (only green though) and could not stand the taste. When we tried roasted red peppers, they gave us new insight on them and we have been having them raw and cooked in small doses. We really do like them now; but the green ones are still a bit to harsh for us.

This pasta recipe, Roasted Pepper and Goat Cheese Pasta, uses quite a few peppers to create a fresh and spicy sauce to coat some bow tie noodles. Instead of using jarred roasted peppers, you can easily make your own by roasting them in the oven. When the skins turn black, you can simply seal them in a ziploc bag and as they cool, the skin will slip right off. Make sure to not peel them under running water, you wouldn't want to waste that roasted flavor!

The amount of sauce is pretty generous - a bit too much though - and was a little thin, but we both loved the taste. Next time I would maybe add a little less chicken broth and probably reduce the sugar by a teaspoon - it was almost a little too sweet. The thin slices of basil added to the freshness with creamy bits of goat cheese that tempered the heat from the crushed red pepper.

If you don't care for green or red bell peppers, try roasting yellow or orange bell peppers. They have a sweeter more subtle flavor and then you will probably eventually aquire a teste for the red and green ones.

Green bell peppers are like green tomatoes, they're not yet ripe, and like green potatoes, contain solanine, which can be toxic to the rare person who can't process it in their intestines. Not a bad idea to avoid them, especially if you don't like the flavor anyway. I even make gumbo with red pepper instead of green.

You are so right on about green bell peppers! I think the key concept that a lot of people miss is that they are "green", i.e. NOT RIPE. Once they are ripe (i.e. red or orange or yellow, depending on the variety) they are flavorable, palatable, and digestible.